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  1. #1
    Registered User John B's Avatar
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    Default Woman dies trying to reach Chris McCandless bus

    For those who haven't read "Into the Wild," a young man died in an abandoned school bus. He gave himself the nickname "Alexander Supertramp, and he tended to be a loner. He hiked out into the bush, and the bus became his camp/home. I think that most would agree that he was somewhat delusional, ill prepared, and under supplied.
    All that said, he was a tragic young person who died of starvation while living in an abandoned school bus in rural Alaska.
    Over the years, it has become something of a magnet for adventuresome types.

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/27/us/wo...rnd/index.html

  2. #2

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    River crossings are usually dangerous and tough. (Most especially when wearing a heavy backpack).

    Isn't drowning the main cause of death in the wilderness??

  3. #3
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    The Teklanika is fast, freezing cold, and thick with glacial silt. Not something I would want to ford for any reason. Beautiful country, though.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  4. #4
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    I thought McCandless did from eating some poison seeds?
    Maybe a combination of that and starvation- it's been many years since I read the book.

    It's sad to hear about the woman perishing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MichaelK7 View Post
    I thought McCandless did from eating some poison seeds?
    Maybe a combination of that and starvation- it's been many years since I read the book.


    The way I recall it from the book---he was starving and figured he would eat the potatoes...

    and thats what killed him...


    i recently picked up a his sister's book but haven't had a chance to read it yet...

  6. #6
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Possibly tainted moose meat may also have contributed to his demise.
    His gas station map didn’t help much. He apparently didn’t find the hand powered overhead cable basket across the river about 100 yards downstream.
    Sad story.
    Wayne

  7. #7
    GSMNP 900 Miler
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    Quote Originally Posted by MichaelK7 View Post
    I thought McCandless did from eating some poison seeds?
    Maybe a combination of that and starvation- it's been many years since I read the book.

    It's sad to hear about the woman perishing.
    It's been a while since I read the book as well... what I do recall is that the 1st edition came to one conclusion (starvation?) and later follow-ups had some more information that wasn't solid, but suggested that he had been eating some local plant that was either confused with something that was thought poisonous, or that it was just being found out that it might be poisonous.

    In either case, I don't think a rock solid conclusion was ever reached.

  8. #8
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    Duplicate, sorry
    Last edited by Feral Bill; 07-29-2019 at 03:10.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by MichaelK7 View Post
    I thought McCandless did from eating some poison seeds?
    Maybe a combination of that and starvation- it's been many years since I read the book.

    It's sad to hear about the woman perishing.
    It was starvation. The author, Jon Krakauer, was in error, as he explained later. It was a sad end for both lives.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Feral Bill View Post
    It was starvation. The author, Jon Krakauer, was in error, as he explained later. It was a sad end for both lives.
    Several theories have been proposed. See the section titled “Peril” in the following link.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_McCandless#Death

  11. #11
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    He was dead when he left the pickup truck and walked into the Alaskan bush. In winter.
    Wayne
    PS: The Lewis and Clark expedition members suffered from a steady diet of elk and bison. Even after the indigenous population showed them how to prepare native greens and how to fish, they still preferred a high protein meat diet.
    Last edited by Venchka; 07-29-2019 at 09:44.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    He was dead when he left the pickup truck and walked into the Alaskan bush. In winter.
    He hiked in at the end of April, and died in August, not winter.

  13. #13
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    He was dead when he left the pickup truck and walked into the Alaskan bush. In winter.
    Wayne
    PS: The Lewis and Clark expedition members suffered from a steady diet of elk and bison. Even after the indigenous population showed them how to prepare native greens and how to fish, they still preferred a high protein meat diet.
    Well, actually, McCandless walked into the bush in late April and forded the knee-deep Teklanika River on May 1. He was found dead in early September, but probably died sometime in late August. After about 2 months, sometime in July, already starving, ill, and possibly injured, he realized his mistake and tried to get out, but couldn't cross the river as it was swollen and raging with rain and melt water. Having no map or local knowledge, he was ignorant of the location of an old hand tram cable only a mile or so downstream which might have saved him. Winter really didn't play into it, other than supplying melt water to the river.

    A sad tale of misguided enthusiasm turned tragic by a dose of ignorance and arrogance.
    Last edited by 4eyedbuzzard; 07-29-2019 at 10:55.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    He was dead when he left the pickup truck and walked into the Alaskan bush. In winter.
    Wayne
    PS: The Lewis and Clark expedition members suffered from a steady diet of elk and bison. Even after the indigenous population showed them how to prepare native greens and how to fish, they still preferred a high protein meat diet.
    I think Stephen Ambrose in his Lewis and Clark book mentions them having to eat 9 lbs of meat per person per day. Wow.

  15. #15

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    Not sure what the big mystery is. Can't fix stupid. And it tends to be fatal.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by crazylegs76 View Post
    Not sure what the big mystery is. Can't fix stupid. And it tends to be fatal.
    You can but Texas has many laws restricting such fixes.

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    Maybe it's time for the authority having jurisdiction to declare the bus an attractive nuisance and yank it out of there.
    "It goes to show you never can tell." - Charles Edward Anderson Berry

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I think Stephen Ambrose in his Lewis and Clark book mentions them having to eat 9 lbs of meat per person per day. Wow.
    "up to 9lb per person per day, when game was plentiful" - but other times, they ate poor roots and rotten fish, and starved.
    As far as I read through their stories.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Grouse View Post
    Maybe it's time for the authority having jurisdiction to declare the bus an attractive nuisance and yank it out of there.
    What, and give up all those tourist dollars $$$$ https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...ve_Alaska.html

    I wonder how many people visit the bus every year.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    . . . Isn't drowning the main cause of death in the wilderness??
    Actually, I think falling and heart attacks are the top two. But drowning is right up there close.

    Quote Originally Posted by Feral Bill View Post
    The Teklanika is fast, freezing cold, and thick with glacial silt. Not something I would want to ford for any reason.
    Now, that depends on the time of day and the day of the year and where you're crossing it. I've crossed it several times without much thought. I've chosen not to cross it a couple of times, once when riding my mountain bike down the stampede road/trail as it was in 1990, the year before McCandless, I think, maybe two.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

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